A Norwegian tanker crew were taken completely by surprise as their ship grounded on an unknown shoal in the River Elbe in Germany.

The incident involving the 16,600-dwt Sten Arnold (built 2008), owned by Stenersen, happened on 21 August 2022, a report by the Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation (BSU) said.

The ship was en route from Amsterdam to Hamburg with a cargo of 13,925 tonnes of petrol when it encountered a “critical navigational incident”.